Players arrive for 1st ODI
Kochi: Members of the Indian and West Indies cricket teams arrived here today for the first One-day International, scheduled to be held here on Wednesday. The Indian team members who arrived here this afternoon, included Virat Kholi, Mohammed Shami, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayadu, Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvnesh Kumar,Umesh Yadav and Ravinder Jadeja. left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav, the new face in the team, is expected to reach by an evening flight along with Mohit Sharma. Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Suresh Raina are expected to reach here by tonight, Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) sources said. West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo and Andre Russell had reached on Sunday night. The Indian team is expected to practise on Tuesday morning, followed by the West Indians in the afternoon.
Gambhir confident about Narine
New Delhi: Gautam Gambhir is confident that his Kolkata Knight Riders teammate Sunil Narine will return to action as a "better bowler and stronger human being" after he was reported twice for a suspect bowling action in the ClT20. Narine was reported twice for a suspect action in the recently concluded T20 event and therefore was not allowed to play in the final on Saturday. The doubts over his action led to his withdrawal from West Indies' tour of India. KKR captain Gambhir, however, backed his main bowler saying he will do bigger things after the comeback. "He (Narine) is, was and will always be an integral part of KKR and the entire squad will stand behind him and I hope he can come back as a stronger human being and can achieve much bigger heights than he has achieved in the past," Gambhir was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo. The southpaw said he was shocked to know about Narine's action being reported. “The only thing I can say at the moment is it's a tough time for him, but he's a strong character. I had a long chat with him after the game (against Dolphins on Sep 29) and I told him he needed to get this monkey off his back because he himself doesn't know if there's anything wrong with his action,” said Gambhir. “The good thing is now he will get to know whether there is actually a problem in his action. If there is any, he will try to sort that out and come back a stronger human being and a stronger character as well. He could take all that pressure and be a much better bowler as well. Sometimes when these things start playing in your mind, what will happen if I bowl this delivery, what will people be talking, etc. Once he gets this off his back I am 100 per cent sure he will be a much better bowler,” he added.
‘Ajmal's WC return uphill task’
New Delhi: Suspended spinner Saeed Ajmal is doing everything to correct his action but it is an "uphill task" for him to make it to the Pakistan team for the World Cup, says PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan. “I have just spoken to Ajmal before I came here. He is trying very hard. There are a team of experts working with him headed by Saqlain but the point is he himself admitted that ‘'Sir mujhe maloom hain ki galti kahaan huyi hain aur main usse theek karne ki koshish bhi kar raha hoon (Sir I know where I have made a mistake and trying hard to rectify that)," PCB chief Khan said during an interaction at a select gathering at Pakistan High Commission here. “I have been told that he has been able to bring his flexion angle (elbow use) down considerably but it is still above permissible limit,” he added. “Ajmal is confident but it indeed is an uphill task. It's not only doosra or faster ball that is in question but his entire action and it is being changed. When you ask me what are his chances of playing I would say it is 50-50 as of now,” the career diplomat, on a visit to Asian countries to seek resumption of cricketing ties in Pakistan, said. Khan was hopeful that he would be able to convince cricket boards to send their A and junior teams to Pakistan.
GCA chief to attend hearing
Panaji: Goa Cricket Association President Vinod Phadke will attend the hearing before Sports Authority of Goa (SAG) on October 9, in connection with a show cause notice issued by the latter threatening de-recognition. “I will be attending the hearing before SAG along with my lawyer. We are preparing the detailed defence that would be put up during the hearing,” Phadke said. SAG Executive Director Sandip Jacques has summoned Phadke in his chamber on October 9. In a written response to the notice, the GCA has already challenged the powers of SAG to issue such a notice, Phadke said. “We will go according to the response we have given in the notice,” he said. SAG had issued show cause notice to the GCA on August 28 this year pointing out that the cricketing body had been violating the recommendations of the Commission probing the 2001 India-Australia match ticket scam. The GCA president had responded to the notice on September 25 terming it as unwarranted without jurisdiction and which "discloses non-application of mind."